Professor Surya Kalidindi, ME, has been selected by the Department of Defense as one of 11 distinguished faculty scientists and engineers to join the 2018 Class of Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows (VBFF). They join a cadre of 45 current Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows, who are sponsored by the DoD to conduct foundational research in core science and engineering disciplines that underpin future DoD capabilities.  

Dr. Kalidindi was selected based on his research in Fusion of inherently incomplete and uncertain multiscale multiphysics materials knowledge in pursuit of novel engineered materials.

Dr. Kalidindi's research interests are broadly centered on designing material internal structure (including composition) for optimal performance in any selected application and identifying hybrid processing routes for its manufacture. To this end, he has employed a harmonious blend of experimental, theoretical, and numerical approaches in his research.

He serves as Innovation Strategies and Innovation Support Team Lead at the Institute for Materials and was instrumental in the creation of IDEAS:MD3, an entity with a mission of developing the initial data engineering and science foundation in that ecosystem, a key to unleashing new potential in solving 21st century grand challenges.

The Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship program is sponsored by the Basic Research Office, in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and administered by the Office of Naval Research. This program seeks outstanding researchers to conduct transformative basic research in topic areas of interest to the DoD.  Through the program, select university researchers and students learn about DoD’s current and future challenges, and are introduced to some of the ongoing critical research. 

The program fosters long-term relationships between DoD and university researchers, and prepares them for possible entry into the defense and national security workforce.   

Fellows are currently conducting basic research in the areas of quantum information science, neuroscience, nanoscience, novel engineered materials, applied mathematics and statistics that could revolutionize a wide variety of DoD capabilities such as artificial intelligence, position-navigation-timing in denied environments, autonomous system design, decision support tools, and sensor development.  In addition to conducting this innovative, “blue sky” research, the Fellows have opportunities to directly engage with the larger DoD research enterprise and to share their knowledge and insights with DoD military and civilian leaders, researchers in DoD laboratories, and the national security science and engineering community.  

The VBFF commemorates Dr. Vannevar Bush, director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development during WWII. Following the example set by Dr. Bush, DoD invests in basic research to probe the 'limits of today's technologies and discover new phenomena and know-how that ultimately leads to future technologies and helps prevent capability surprise. These investments have led to broad and game-changing capabilities such as the global positioning satellite (GPS) system, magnetic random access memory (MRAM), and stealth technology, to name a few.   

The 10th Anniversary meeting of the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship took place in April in Washington, D.C.
 
Click here for a full list by name, academic institution and research projects, of the new members of the 2018 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows.